onedayatatime

Thanks for your note! I have a reservation at Mandalay right now for Ap 19-22. Under a promo the first two nights were $105 + tax each and then the 21st is $378. So I was just fishing around to see if I could find something on the 21st for $200 or less. If the savings aren't significant, the hassle of moving hotels isn't worth it. I hate to be cheap since I know we are getting an amazing deal on the first nights -- but we paid dearly for the air and so if we can save $200 somewhere, then we would do something fun with the extra cash. B)

Struck out with bids up to $200. Las Vegas Bid History Check-in: Sat. April 21/12 - Sun. April 22/12 5* North Strip $125 - NO Added Strip South $135 - NO Added Near Strip East $160 - NO Added Near Strip West $185 - NO Added Conv. Centre $200 - NO At this time, I wasn't prepared to bid more than $200 and am not sure about dropping down to 4*. If I decide to, I'll post an update. Thanks for your web-site.

Another note to add: Expedia has the Aloha as a 2* and the ResortQuest Kauai Makaiwa as a 3.5*. I would completely agree with Expedia's star rating for these two hotels. Anyone know why Priceline would have them both down as 3*? :) Not complaining -- we only spent 7 hours there and it wasn't a bad hotel at all ... just a comment on the difference between places and star ratings for each. I'll complete the Priceline hotel survey when it comes and maybe they'll take a closer look at it. :) It was a wonderful trip and a super deal all around. Hopefully we won't take another 10 years to go back!

On first try, booked 3* Aloha Beach Resort Kauai for $70 with Priceline. They told me retail for the same room would have been $115/night. We needed an inexpensive hotel to spend the day at since we had an early check-out at the other 3* ResortQuest we had spent the week at and late evening flight (rack rate the front desk gave me for staying the day at the ResortQuest would have been over $340). I thought we'd be able to get the same hotel or would have to drop a star rating but since it was just for the day, we weren't worried about where we'd be -- we just wanted it to be relatively cheap. As a matter of interest, while the Aloha Beach Resort is o.k., it in no way compares to the ResortQuest. The Aloha Beach Resort has the same star rating but was a huge step down from the 3* ResortQuest. Something isn't right with the star ratings because these two hotels are definitely not in the same class. While the Aloha is still nice, it seems to be a bit run-down and out-dated (the rooms need some major upgrades). The grounds and landscaping are more lush though and the location is ideal for families as it is on the Lydgate Beach which is a perfect beginner spot for snorkelling. Had we not spent the other 7 nights at the ResortQuest, we wouldn't have been disappointed in the Aloha as it is still a nice hotel, was clean, had plenty of amenities and friendly staff.

Amenities were listed as: Airport Shuttle, Pool(s), Restuarant, Laundry Facilities

Using the Savings Barn link, I tried the following strategy with Priceline for a 2* Honolulu Airport Region hotel. 2* Airport $56 REJECTED 2* Airport $62 REJECTED 2* Airport $70 REJECTED 2* Airport $76 REJECTED 2* Airport $85 REJECTED 2* Airport $92 REJECTED I used BetterChecker several times throughout and today saw a Hotwire 2* Airport hotel for $99 (which was the lowest it's been) so I abandoned using Priceline and went with Hotwire using the HOTWIRE link on this site. I posted my Hotwire win in the Hotwire forum but thought that this Priceline bid history might be useful to others. :)

Using the HOTWIRE link on this site, I booked the Pacific Marina Inn for $99.

Using the Savings Barn Link, I booked the Marriott Vancouver Pinnacle for $70 (first bid). It is a beautiful hotel and has an excellent location downtown. I would definitely stay there again. :)

I wondered what was going on with the Kauai Sands because it appeared on our Timeshare Interval List as a getaway week. I figured it had been sold to the timeshare company but the star rating isn't the normal timeshare quality so I wondered if it was a name mistake. Thanks for the explanation.

It is too funny that you said to be prepared to ask the Hilton reservation agent to spell Kauai because that is exactly what I had to do, twice --- and then I had to correct her more than once on the location I was trying to get because she kept talking about Waikiki. :) In the end, she did confirm that we were talking about the same location and said she couldn't find any available entertainment rate. Incompetent is all I can say and too bad because they lost my business and I lost the opportunity to stay there. Sigh, we live and learn. No matter the outcome, I am still pleased with the Priceline results. Obviously I could have done better with the Hilton at $90 but :) who knew that the Hilton agent would give me incorrect information. In the end, I'm not a terribly fussy traveller. I like getting a good deal which I still think I did and I can have a good time whether at a 5* or 1* as long as the accommodations are clean and safe. :) Besides, I'm goin to Kauai.... how could I complain when we have 5' snow drifts outside and another 3-4 ft. expected over the next two weeks! :o Hopefully all of this information ends up helping someone else out there. I'll make sure to write a review when I return.

Using the SB Link, I was successful in booking the ResortQuest Kauai Beach at Makaiwa for $100/night. This was my strategy: Kapaa-Lihue-Koloa RESORT $115 REJECTED Kapaa-Lihue-Koloa RESORT $125 REJECTED Kapaa-Lihue-Koloa RESORT $135 REJECTED add Princeville $142 REJECTED Kapaa-Lihue-Koloa RESORT $155 REJECTED add Princeville $160 REJECTED add 3* with RESORT $100 ACCEPTED Lowest average nightly rate that I could find for this hotel was $172/night so I have a savings of $72/night. Over the 6 days, that amounts to $432 in savings. Wonderful! I checked into the hotel and am pleased with the location, reviews and amenities. I had been considering booking this particular resort directly. Thanks again Priceline and also to this site for all of the help on my bidding. :) I'm one very satisfied customer!

I have a conclusion to my Kauai search -- will start a new thread with the details. I am very satisfied and did have success with Priceline in the end. Thanks again to everyone for all of their help and advice. Most of all thanks to Thereuare for this site!

Brilliant -- you are right! I Google'd Radisson Beach Resort Kauai and it sent me to the Hilton Beach Resort site. Thanks very much for the tip.

Sad news :) I phoned the 1-800 HILTON number and they do not have an entertainment rate available for their Kauai location. Best rate available is $179/night + tax. I'm going to keep working other angles and will let you know what I end up doing. Any thoughts as to which hotel the 3.5* is on Hotwire? I'm thinking it's the Radisson by what I can tell from the amenities. If it is the Radisson, I think I would be better off to Priceline the 3* instead because I have seen bid wins ranging from $100 -$180/night. I'd better check the dates for those wins though because I could have really old information.

Thank you for all of your replies. All of the advice is incredibly helpful and I appreciate it very much. :) I'm going to try to get my hands on that card and go for the Hilton at $90 -- I couldn't be more excited and hope I can make it all work! If I don't have luck finding a card then I'll probably go with the Hotwire 3.5*. Ultimately spending $90 - $130 makes me more comfortable anyways. We honeymooned in Kauai 10 years ago and loved it -- stayed at the Cliffs Club Resort in Princeville (timeshare gift from my parents). It was a great location because we were close to so many different beaches but it was quite isolated from any other activities and the resort had absolutely nothing to offer. Obviously that didn't bother us because we were honeymooning! Now I think we want to be somewhere in the middle -- probably along the Coconut Coast. I'll keep you all posted on my progress and thanks again very much for all of the input! :)

Using the SB Link, I tried the following: Kapaa-Lihue RESORT $115 REJECTED Kapaa-Lihue RESORT $125 REJECTED Kapaa-Lihue RESORT $135 REJECTED added Princeville $142 REJECTED I am willing to go up to $160 (maybe a little more) for the RESORT but wondered for those of you with Kauai experiences if the 3* for less money is a better buy? I'm also considering dropping down to the 2* for the Kauai Sands because I've heard decent things even knowing it is very budget oriented. For those who have stayed at the Kauai Sands, did you have a decent room or were you stuck looking at the parking lot? Same question for those who got the Radisson? Obviously every experience is different but I just wondered. I've read Lonestar's comments about the card discount for the plantation and I will consider doing that. Do you think that I need to split up my bid dates? Thanks for any advice you can offer :)

Using the SavingsBarn.com PRICELINE link, first bid of $25 was accepted for a Convertible with National in Kauai. :) :) should have started lower but retail was over $45 at best per day so I thought I was doing great. I'm still thrilled with the $25 rate I got through Priceline though. Once again, thanks for keeping this site going, it is a tremendous resource!

Bid $50 -- rejected Bid $60 -- rejected Bid $70 -- rejected Bid $80 -- rejected with re-bid offer of adding $22 Bid $86 -- ACCEPTED 3* Crowne Plaza Resort Anaheim Dec 31/06 - Jan 3/07. Obviously the rates are up because of the Christmas season booking but it's still a good deal. Used the SavingsBarn.com link. Thanks for the help! :)

I tried waiting, but wasn't very patient so I tried again. Bid $80 -- they gave me a re-bid offer of adding $22 (I waited) Bid $86 -- ACCEPTED (finally) I used the SavingsBarn link. Thanks for the help and advice.

Thanks for the tips. I was just using the BetterChecker link and will book a back-up with that to be safe. Then as you suggested, I'll try priceline again in 2 weeks. I don't know anything about using Hotwire so I'll do some reading on this site to see what it's all about. I'll let you know what happens. Thanks again. :)

3* Anaheim (Disneyland) December 31/06 - January 3/07 Bid $50 rejected Bid $60 rejected Bid $70 rejected I've read through all of the bid history for this area and it seems to max out at $70 for the 3*. I can only find one bid history in the same time frame from December 2005 and it was accepted at a much lower rate than I'm already at. Do I wait a month and start trying again or do I keep upping my bid? How much more do you think I might have to go? We'd really like to be in the Disneyland area so I haven't expanded my regions. Any thoughts that anyone has would be greatly appreciated. :)

Bid of $60 rejected. Accepted at $67 for the 4* Hyatt Regency in Long Beach. Two rooms. I love priceline! Thanks for the help using it. :)